Thought Mapping for Idea Generating

I’m a list maker by nature. I love a good to-do list and I make at least six every single Sunday. But lately I’ve been using Thought Mapping as a go to tool for brain dumping and idea generation. It’s a tool that many visionaries use to capture ideas, and as an Integrator, I’m more of a check-off-the-box person rather than a thought bubble person. Lately though, as I’ve been mapping out my goals and strategies and working from Big Dreams down to a to-do list, I’ve been using this tool and it’s been really helpful for generating ideas.

It’s so simple it’s almost ridiculous to write a blog post about, but it’s incredibly helpful. Essentially you start with a main idea, say “Revenue Growth by 15%” and from that main idea you come up with contributing factors that support the main idea. Do you remember using this in your college English classes? I sure do. I didn’t like it for writing essays (and I’m an English major) but I like it for coming up with revenue ideas.

What about you? Do you use this process? What’s your go-to brain dump best practice?